Rayman is the main protagonist of the Rayman series created by Ubisoft game designer Michel Ancel. He first appeared in 1995 on the Atari Jaguar, Sony PlayStation, Sega Saturn, MS-DOS and the Sega Dreamcast. He is voiced by David Gasman. Rayman's catchphrase is known to be a highly exclaimed yelling of "YEAH!!"

Rayman Raving Rabbids (1, 2, TV)

In Rayman Raving Rabbids, Rayman had his hands full with the Rabbids, a race of Huminoids that resemble crazy looking rabbits. Rayman has a deep and strong hate for Rabbids. They have captured him, (and Globox's children) forced him to do things for their entertainment. In Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 they attempt conquer Earth. In Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party they manage to get inside Rayman's TV and even annoy him through it with shows for several months.

This time around, Rayman and his friends have to Deal with the Land of the Livid Dead and the Magician, an old friend of Rayman's that was secretly a follower of Mr. Dark. This game brings back the classic 2D gameplay as well as some new features. Some are, but not limited to: Walljump, and sprinting up walls.

Rather than being a reimagining, as the title of the game would suggest, this is confirmed to take place in between The Great Escape (Rayman 2) and Hoodlum Havoc. (Rayman 3)

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U

Rayman has been confirmed to appear as a collectible trophy in the upcoming Smash Bros game for Wii U with a brand new HD model.

Appearances

From 1995 onwards, Rayman has had his appearance changed slightly for each game, to be able to give him more expressions. In Rayman and Rayman 2: The Great Escape, he wore a purple shirt, red bandana and yellow sneakers. In Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc and onwards, his shirt changed into a hoodie and his hair was also changed. He is limbless, meaning having no limbs. He also has a round nose. On his hoodie, he has a white "O". The "O" appears to have magical properties. Whenever he earned a new power in Rayman, sparkles would appear around the O; in Rayman 2, it was used to open the stones holding the masks. While he appears to have no arms or legs because of his limblessness, his feet and hands are somehow connected to him but can be removed and reattached as seen in Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc . Rayman is made up of electoons as shown in the first game. When he is defeated, he transforms into five or six electoons which quickly zoom towards the sky.

However, he has been known to change appearance, beginning from Rayman 3 onwards. While the different "combat fatigues" only caused changes to Rayman's hair, shirt, and shoe color, players in Rayman Raving Rabbids are able to dress Rayman in a variety of Costumes. They start with the choices of Disco, Gangsta, and Grandma. As more mini-games are unlocked, other costumes, such as Rock 'n' roll, Disc jockey, gothic fashion, and Bunny become available. Even more costumes, such as Hippie, Dracula, and Caveman, are added in Rayman Raving Rabbids 2.

His appearance and persona matches a typical teenage boy.

Abilities

Rayman has a few unique powers that he retains at all times, mainly those granted to him by Fairies. First of all is the far reach of his fists. Being limbless, Rayman is able to launch long range punches at his enemies. He does not display this in Rayman 2, instead throwing energy spheres at his enemies. However, Rayman 2 is the only game where he retains this power; he uses his fists to attack once again in Rayman 3. In Rayman Raving Rabbids, players use the Wii Remote and Nunchuk to control his movements rather than attacks due to the mini-game based nature. Another well-known power of his is the ability to use his hair to not only glide, but also use as a mini-helicopter. Most of the time, Rayman is unable to ascend. However, in certain situations where he is given an extra boost, he is able to power it up and go wherever he pleases.

Rayman 3 introduced power-ups known as "combat fatigues" or "Laser Washing Powder". These not only changed Rayman's appearance, they give him a specific move depending on the can he picks up. There are five of these in total, known as the Vortex (ability to lower certain platforms and shrink enemies), Heavy Metal Fist (powerful metal fists able to knock down big obstacles), Lockjaw (grabs onto flying rings similar to Purple Lums, and electrocute enemies), Shock Rocket (hand-guided rocket able to reach far away targets), and Throttle Copter (helicopter). However, these powers are only present in Rayman 3 and have not been mentioned in any other game to date. (refer to Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc)

In Rayman 3, Rayman's hands are shown to have a life of their own. At the end of the game, as he is sleeping, they crawl away from his body and intentionally frighten a red lum. Frightening a red lum causes it to transform into a black lum, and so Andre is born once again. Though it is done comically and the consequences are never looked into, the fact that Rayman's hands may be malicious cannot be ignored. That said, his hands may not understand the true consequences of their actions and may just be mischievous. They are, after all, simply hands.

Additionally, in Rayman 3 a being called the Leptys gave him the power to transform Black Lums into Red Lums. This consists of Rayman making a ridiculous face. This is reminiscent of Rayman 1 when Rayman could make a weird face before obtaining the running power. This wasn't very useful, though he was able to scare some of the more cowardly hunters in the jungle with that face. Rayman is the main hero in Rayman Raving Rabbids 1, 2 and TV Party and has the same look as his home series.

In the Rayman Raving Rabbids series, he is known to own a plunger gun.
It's Rayman's trademark weapon in those games, and he uses it to take out large armies of Rabbids in the on-rails shooter levels. He often has to reload the gun, as the player doesn't have an unlimited supply of plungers to use.

Speech

In Rayman 1, he only spoke during the intro sequence or when he is immobile by saying phrases such as: "Hey, you!", "I'm waiting!", and "Yo, dude!".

In Rayman 2: The Great Escape, Rayman spoke in complete gibberish, which consisted of some language that only his people can speak. The only English words he said were "Hey!" and "Stop!". Later versions added real-world languages.